Brailing block



BRAILING BLOCK Ludvilr Wilhelrhsem-Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada My invention relates to improvements in brailing blocks.

This invention particularly relates to a device known in the fishing industry as a brailing block and which is utilized to secure a brail or load line to the haul line of a winch or the like.

The objects of the invention are to provide positive means for latching the load line within the block and for releasing it therefrom, which means is controllable from a remote point, and to provide that the load line may be dropped to a point below the block to release the load and be subsequently raised to the block for relatching and reloading.

Referring to the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a vertical section of the invention.

Figure 2 is a section taken on the line 2-2 of Figure 1.

Figures 3 and 4 are diagrammatic views showing the means for releasing and resetting the load line.

In the drawings like characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in each figure.

The brailing block consists of a rectangular hollow body 1 made up of spaced side plates 2 which are connected by edge strips 4 and 5. A top strip 7 is secured between the plates 2 by bolts 8 and is provided with an integral eye 9 to which the haul line 10 of a winch is attached. The lower edges of the plates are preferably swaged outwardly as at 12 to provide an enlarged opening 14 into the body 1.

Secured to the edge strip 4 by bolts 16 is a leaf spring 17 which is reinforced at its free end by a coil spring 18, the latter spring being seated in a recess 19 formed in said edge strip. The edge strip is provided with an opening 22 and an upwardly inclined socket 23 which is internally threaded to receive an adjusting screw 24.

A pivot pin 27 extends between the side plates 2 and rockingly mounted upon said pin is a lever 28 having an enlarged upper portion 29 and a short lower portion 30. The portion 29 of the'lever is provided with a slot .32 in which a sheave 33 is journalled upon a pin 34.

Adjacent the sheave 33 the portion 29 is provided with a downwardly projecting lug 36 in which a recess 37 is formed. A spring 38 is seated in the recess 37 and upon the adjusting screw 24 in the socket 23, which spring normally holds the lever against a stop 40 formed by the lowermost bolt 16in the side strip 4.

Rockingly mounted upon the pivot pin 27 is a forked keeper 42 which partly encloses the portion 30 of the lever and is provided with a latch seat 43 and has a lower cam face 44. A flange 45 is formed integrally with the latch seat and is normally abutted by the portion 30 of the lever, so that the keeper cannot swing in an anticlockwise direction beyond the position shown in Figure 1 and can only be rocked in a clockwise direction against the pressure applied by the springs 17 and 18.

A shaft 48 extends between the side plates 2 and swingingly mounted thereon is a latch arm 49 having a lug 50 at its rounded free end 51. Extending through the latch arm is an opening 52 in which the end of a Uni d S a s P s O 2,838,337 Patented June 10, 1958 hand line 53 is secured. The hand line is trained over the sheave 33 and out through the opening 22 in the Assuming that the device is to be used simply to transport a load to a given point where the load is required to be released so that it may drop away to discharge, said device will function as follows: At the point of dis charge a pull is exerted upon the hand line 53 to rock the lever 28 and simultaneously the keeper 42 to the position shown diagrammatically in Figure 3, whereupon said hand line is released and allowed to run free. Movement of the keeper away from the arm 49 withdraws the latch seat 43 from beneath the lug 50 so that the member may fall to a vertical position extending below the block. The latch arm swings about its shaft 48 to withdraw from the slot 57, which movement trains the hand line around the sheave 60 so that as the member 56 drops away from the block it forms a bight 65 in said hand line, see Figure 3. When the load has been lowered the required distance below the block and released, the line 53 is wound in to raise the member up to the block. As the member is drawn upwardly through the opening 14 in the block the latch arm is swung through the slot 57 and into engagement with the keeper 42. Continued pull on the hand line causes the rounded end 51 to slide across the cam face 44 so that the keeper is rocked about the pivot pin 27, as shown diagrammatically in Figure 4. Finally the keeper is snapped by the action of the springs 17 and 18 to the position shown in Figure l, whereupon the lug 50 is re-engaged by the latch seat 43 and the member 56 is again secured within the block, so that upon said latch seat, a hand line connected at one end to the free end of said latch arm, said hand line having running engagement with the upper end of said lever and extending outwardly from the block, a load supporting member having a slot at its upper end, said latch arm normally extending through said slot to support the member within the block, said lever being rockable in response to a pull exerted upon the hand line to withdraw the latch seat from beneath the latch arm and said member being supported in a bight formed in the hand line when the load supporting member is released from the block.

2. A brailing block as claimed in claim 1, including a spring carried by the block in engagement with one end of the lever to normally retain the latch seat in engagement with the latch arm.

3. A brailing block as claimed in claim 1, wherein the hand line extends through the slot in the load supporting member when said member is released from the block and the hand line serves to swing the latch arm into latched position within the slot when the member is raised to its uppermost position.

4. A brailing block as claimed in claim 1, wherein the latch seat is swingingly mounted upon the same pin as ing the latch seat to disengage the latch arm.

5. A brailing block as claimed in claim 1, said latch seat being swingingly mounted upon the pin supporting the lever, said lever having a portion adapted to swing the latch seat in one direction, and spring means carried by the block and engaging the latch seat to normally retain the latch seat in substantial alignment with the lever.

6. A brailing block as claimed in claim 1, wherein the slot in the load supporting member is fitted with a freely rotatable sheave, said sheave engaging the latch arm when said arm is in latched position and riding in the bight in the hand line when the member is being raised or lowered from the block.

4 7. A brailing block as claimed in claim 1, including a slot in said lever at its upper end and a freely rotatable sheave mounted in the slot over which the hand line is trained.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,478,019 Sonntag Aug. 2, 1949 599,461 Great Britain Mar. 12, 1948 

